A GREAT TIME AT THE FREE FAIR – February 23, 2026
This is Brandyn Buchanan, I’m the chairman of Mosaic Atlanta. It’s a pleasure to be speaking to you this Monday.
I’d rather just give you an update but there’s nothing more annoying than some rando giving their takes while speaking about what “we / the people” think.
Anyway.
In life, the fear of missing something can sometimes be more of a motivator than the eagerness to go.
So, in case you missed it, there was a mini winter free fair Saturday with lots of great speakers, exhibitions and memories.
It was great to have so much participation from membership.
One of our members brought a survey and shuttled in a bunch of zines that the research group designed and printed. There were tons of responses – so many that it felt like a waste of time to do a presentation on local organizing.
If you missed Mosaic Live from the last two weeks, you should definitely watch both.
One was a bit of a variety pack covering interesting topics, and one was a really great interview with Cassandra Alexander-Green, an organizer with the Southern Christian Leadership Council and an organization called WOWW that works with trafficked and abused women in very vulnerable situations. These stories are gut wrenching, and when I asked about how the work makes her feel, it was overwhelming.
The capacity to help these defenseless women, or to reenact the horrific lynchings like the George and Mae Murray Dorsey and Roger and Dorothy Malcolm murders in Monroe, they don’t come from a freewheeling sense of joy. It’s an obligation and with one hand here and another hand there, we can have hard conversations or help people in the most extreme need.
Our group also did quite a bit of local organizing. A lovely cleanup in Center Hill that went above and beyond – we did two different streets, definitely more than what was on the “to do list”.
As that community spirit spreads and the great resources, bonding and fun spreads across a group that knows each other, more people think, “Hey, let’s do it on my street.” And it becomes maybe a little more institutionalized.
Lots to talk about this week, so please enjoy and plug in as you wish.
📰 This Week’s News
Vox – All · Feb 23
The Supreme Court will decide if marijuana users may be barred from owning guns
I don’t know if it’s possible to be cynical enough about the Supreme Court whatever they’re gonna be saying is probably the wrong thing. Every time I hear a headline that starts with “the Supreme Court will consider” I start preemptively seething and/or cussing.
What about the wife beaters? And militia nuts stockpiling weapons? You think they’re gonna be getting drug tested by the government? This threatens to be another extension of the “drug war” – a one sided bid for state control and the erosion of rights. I just can’t imagine this won’t be used like the rest of the drug war.
Also in the news
Iran says ready for talks but will defend itself against US aggression
Al Jazeera · Feb 23
Remember a few years ago?
Whenever Trump wasn’t telling everyone on his Twitter feed that Obama was a Kenyan, he was basically tweeting “WATCH THIS MF START A WAR” whenever Iran was in the news.
So really, who knows what happens? So much of what I hear from Iran is hopeless and stomach churning.
Nick Reiner pleads not guilty in the killing of parents Rob and Michele
BBC News · Feb 23
Sometimes I see something shocking in the news and I want to shut up and see what happens. What a gross spectacle. Some people are just messed up in the head.
Top Stories – Google News · Feb 23
This is just an interesting link to the New York Times if you’re interested in gawking at a running shit show.
How the National Media Failed Minnesota
The Bulwark · Feb 23
The national media’s failure is a deliberate choice to obscure the state violence that protects capital.
They spin isolated tragedies to avoid the truth: a system that sends federal agents to break protests but leaves American neighborhoods underfunded and over-policed benefits the wealthy and politically powerful.
🎴 Maybe You Have A Better Idea About The Work
Maybe all of you are – listening to better news sources, having stronger opinions, read more of the right books, have more resources, are listened to by more people, have a more stable life and situation that lets you think correctly and clearly about the situation in the country, city and planet. Many of you talk to me about the great projects you have accomplished in the past.
I hope you don’t sit on that knowledge for another time. I want to ask you to donate to and facilitate the rapidly expanding work that Mosaic Atlanta does.
I definitely get the desire to NOT be over your skies. Or to save your breath about a situation and sound smarter later, the ability to be “apolitical” when work or have hard conversations with your family.
Please Donate $10 Today, Or Give Your Time Through An Organizing Subcomittee
The sun won’t shine on everyone tomorrow.
Fascism is approaching its most violent and militant state in the United States. Please examine your life, time, and priorities with an even sharper lens.
The fastest way to contribute today is with a small donation via CashApp:
please. please. we were able to do outreach because folks have really dug in deep. please do it today and don’t wait.
It was so great talking to literally DOZENS of eager organizers Saturday.
I definitely missed out on movies I could have watched at home, or work commitments, or raising money for my own family needs.
However, I thought about the commitment that your fellow members have made with their donations, and I wanted to honor that commitment with both my Saturday and Sunday.
I’m so glad that I even had paper to put in their hands, and the ability to tell them about the work YOU have done with YOUR support.
📅 MOSAIC EVENTS
ICE Out of Georgia
March 20–22
Mosaic Atlanta
📍 Statewide
Act where you’re at. Organize a rally, picket and boycott, play a benefit show. Get together with your friends, be creative and get something done.
You don’t want to wake up with a concentration camp in your backyard.
Records Committee
Wednesday, February 25
Mosaic Atlanta
📍 Signal
Looking at spreadsheets of all kinds, interviews, members, businesses – and improving the data infrastructure.
Honestly, many people look for things they can plug into outside of work hours, and this is a major key. It’s bad weather out here and it’s easy to get sick. Here’s a way to help while you are inside.
General Meeting
Sunday, March 1
Mosaic Atlanta
📍 Signal
Determining priorities for the month, sharing previous results, and sharing needs for the future.
admin@mosaicatlanta.org
Thanks so much – your voice really works to shape the direction.
📢 ACTIVISM AROUND THE CITY
EVICT ELBIT NOW!
DEMAND NEWMARK TAKES ACTION IN ATLANTA
Thursday, February 26 · 4PM
📍 3455 Peachtree Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30326
Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer and provides surveillance technology for ICE, Border Patrol, and Police.
Newmark leases to Elbit/Universal Avionics in Duluth, GA. Newmark has multiple locations in occupied Palestine and brokers deals with federal government for warehouses used as ICE facilities.
INVISIBLE CITIES (nyc)
SOUR YELLOW · NIGHTERROR · DRESSED
March 17
📍 south bend commons
For softness is great and strength is worthless. When a man is born, he is soft and pliable. When he dies, he is strong and hard. When a tree grows, it is soft and pliable. But when it’s dry and hard, it dies. Hardness and strength are death’s companions. Flexibility and softness are the embodiment of life. That which has become hard shall not triumph.
$7 pwyc
ATLANTA.ASKAPUNK.NET
PACK THE COURT!
Motions to dismiss hearing for the Stop Cop City “domestic terrorism” cases.
Friday, March 6 · 9AM Eastern
📍 ON ZOOM & IN PERSON
Meeting ID: 879 1435 4433
Passcode: 476240
Courtroom 5B, DeKalb County Courthouse, 556 N. McDonough Street, Decatur, Georgia